Hamels Tough Luck Loser, Phillies Bats in Locke-down

In what was one of the more miserable games of the season, the Phillies fell to the Pirates, 2-0.

Hamels Moves to 0-3:

-Just call it the Curse of Cliff. When your starting pitcher throws well enough that he should have a victory. Cole was pretty much on his game from the start, except for mistakes to Brandon Inge and Gaby Sanchez that hurt him. Hamels has gotten better every start since the first two duds of the year. In eight innings he gave up seven hits, two runs, one walk, and struck out six. Hamels tossed a season-high 118 pitches, with 82 strikes, a fantastic ratio. Unfortunately, it ended in a loss.

-The problem was someone named Jeff Locke outdoing him. Locke didn’t really outdo Hamels, per se, but did well on his own against a lifeless offense. The lefty Locke kept the Phils off balance, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks through six innings.

-Former Phillie Jason Grilli closed it out for his eighth save of the season in eight tries. He has not allowed a run yet this season. He’d look nice in the Phils pen, no?

Four Hits Won’t do it:

–John Mayberry Jr. tripled to lead off the fourth inning, followed by a Dom Brown HBP. The next batter, Ben Revere, tapped a grounder to third, and Mayberry broke for home. It was cleanly fielded by Brandon Inge, who easily threw out Mayberry.

One batter later, Erik Kratz grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning that started with two on and no outs. That’s just brutal.

Clarify: I earlier wrote I thought it was ridiculous that they sent Mayberry that quickly. Charlie said on that play, its as old as the game that you send the guy. But I question that. If Inge is off the base a bit, like he was, and you have Mayberry take a lead that he’s comfortable with, and able to get back to the bag if needed, then you shouldn’t have to send him. Wouldn’t Inge’s first reaction be to check what Mayberry was up to? Inge would likely look Mayberry back to the base, therefore allowing Revere time to beat out the possible double play. I’d have to watch the play again, but I don’t feel as though that should be Mayberry going 100%. What are the thoughts on that play?

-With the temps settling into the 40’s as the sun went down, it’s easy to understand why fans aren’t coming out. It’s uninspired baseball in football weather. Is it worth it to shell out $100 or more if you’re going with the family to watch this sort of product? The inconsistencies must be maddening. The tally was 31,002 in the seats tonight, but it looked to be far less than 30K.

–Laynce Nix continues to thrive off the bench. With his single in the eighth, Nix is now 6-for-11 as a pinch hitter this year. He’s settled into that role nicely, and as we know, the bench has been an issue for quite a while.

–Chase Utley pinch-hit in the eighth but it was a brief appearance: he struck out.